Category Archives: Delegates

This election is a bitter pill to swallow because everybody got it wrong. Apparently even the internal polls of the RNC in the last week of the campaign showed Secretary Clinton ahead. At the end of the day, President-elect Trump managed to avoid shooting himself in the foot just long enough during the last two weeks for Republicans who were telling pollsters that they were voting for Governor Johnson or were undecided to hold their noses and come back home. Certainly, the polls with two weeks to go encouraged the Clinton campaign to dream about states that they could go into and help Democrats in down ballot races. The perception that Clinton would win in some ways gave permission for Republicans to hold their noses and vote for Trump to keep the margin down and for Democrats to cast protest votes for third party candidates.

It’s also a bitter pill because the race got very personal. Since the election, I have gotten e-mails from local activists about the issues that the party needs to address. On most of the issues, there was a plan on that issue from the Clinton campaign. The issues, however, never got aired as the campaign focused on the flaws of the two candidates. I don’t think that the choice of the Democratic candidate mattered on this aspect of the campaign. In the primary, Trump also ran a very personality based campaign, slandering his opponents and coming up with labels to characterize the rest of the Republican candidates. Certain issues that were mentioned in the DNC WikiLeaks memos were not good issues for a Democratic primary but would have proven useful tools for the Trump campaign in the general election. Trump was such a big personality and so uniquely “not ready” to be President, it is hard to see how any Democratic campaign could have avoided the temptation to focus on Trump’s flaws and gotten the media to focus on the issues rather than the personalities.

Given the closeness of this election what needs to change between now and 2020.Continue Reading...

Joe Smallhoover is the Chair of Democrats Abroad France. We tried unsuccessfully to find some time together during the convention, but finally a mutually workable time a few days afterwards.

While he lives in Paris now, Joe was born in Pittsburgh and raised in Upper St. Clair, PA. He attended Washington and Jefferson College and Duke University. He holds an MA in Germanic languages from the University of Virginia and did advanced studies in Europe on a Fullbright, as an exchange teacher before returning to the US to obtain a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He has lived in Paris since 1985, and has practiced law in France, Belgium and Germany.

PHILADELPHIA – The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) announced the program for the opening day of the Democratic National Convention being held in Philadelphia from July 25 to July 28. Additional speakers will continue to be announced throughout the convention. In Philadelphia, Democrats are preparing to lay out the clear stakes in this election – a choice between building walls and tearing people down or an optimistic unifying vision where everyone has a role to play in building our future.

Monday will focus on putting the future of American families front and center and how we’re stronger together when we build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top and when everyone has a chance to live up to their God-given potential.

Jordyn Tannenbaum is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in economics. Jordyn is an elected delegate from CD 8 who lives on campus with roommates and hails from Bucks County.

DocJess: How did you decide to become a delegate?

JordynTannenbaum: I became involved with Bernie Sanders’ campaign shortly after it launched. This will be my first time voting in a presidential election, and I wanted to do everything I could to get him on the ballot in November. While working with the campaign, I came across an invitation to apply to become a delegate. Although I didn’t know much about what that meant, I thought it might be an exciting thing to do. It turned out to be a great idea.Continue Reading...

Also posted in DNC, PHLDNC2016 | Comments Off on Meet the #DNC Delegates: Jordyn Tannenbaum

In the interest of full disclosure, I met Hugh when he ran to be a Bernie Sanders delegate earlier this year.

Hugh Brownstone will be attending the protests around the convention. Hugh is a screenwriter and blogger. He lives in Willistown, Chester County, with his fiancé, her son and a dog. He is the father of two grown daughters, one living in Denver, and the other living in Seattle.

Rachel Gonzalez is a 17 year old high school student from Independence, MO, the home of Harry Truman. Rachel is an elected delegate for Hillary Clinton. She lives with her parents and two dogs. She has older siblings who live with their spouses and children.

DocJess: I was told that you are the youngest delegate attending the convention.

RachelGonzalez: I know that I’m Hillary Clinton’s youngest delegate, but I don’t know if there are any younger delegates. You need to turn 18 by Election Day to be a delegate, and my birthday is in October, so I don’t know that there will be anyone younger.Continue Reading...

Anna Payne is an elected delegate for Bernie Sanders from the 8th CD. She works for a credit union. Anna lives in Middletown Township, Bucks County with her mom and stepdad, a dog and a cat.

DocJess: When did you decide you wanted to be a delegate?

Anna Payne: Back in 2012, I watched the DNC in Charlotte, and thought it was very interesting and cool, and I was curious about the people on the floor and the roles they played. I thought that to get there, you’d have to know someone. I was in college majoring in Political Science, and one of my courses had a class about delegates, what they do and what the different processes were in various states to become a delegate. I learned that most of the delegates are pledged to a candidate. I started doing research on how the process works here in Pennsylvania. It’s a long process, but I knew I was up to the challenge!Continue Reading...

In the interest of full disclosure, Chuck and I have worked on a number of issues together over the past decade, and met through Healthcare4AllPA.

Chuck Pennacchio is an elected delegate for Bernie Sanders from the 8th CD, having received the most votes in the April 26 primary. He is a lifelong political activist, educator, and filmmaker. He lives in Plumsteadville, Bucks County, with his wife and two children.

In the interest of full disclosure, Stephanie and I have worked on a number of campaigns together over the past decade.

Stephanie Markstein is an At-Large Delegate representing Bernie Sanders. She is chairwoman of the West Chester Democratic Committee, an elected position. Stephanie is also a singer-songwriter and a yoga teacher/personal trainer.